1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a mattress cores. More particularly, the invention relates to mattress cores made from foamed material, latex, or plastic and provided with a series of hollow spaces running perpendicularly to the mattress"" longitudinal axis.
2. Description of the Related Technology
Mattress cores made from foamed materials have been known for a long period of time. The composition of such mattress cores mostly comprise leveled or profiled plane elements made from foamed material of equal or different firmness.
Through such construction, reclining characteristics improved; however, sufficient ventilation and moisture removal could not be achieved because the pressure caused by the sinking of the user deformed any channels provided in the cores such that good ventilation and moisture removal was prevented.
Exemplary prior art mattress cores are disclosed in AT PS 361 165 and AT PS 370 603. These prior art mattress cores also fail to provide good ventilation and moisture removal since too little air is available due to the small diameters of the hollow spaces. Thus, for removing moisture, expensive lath grids are still necessary. Furthermore, even without gluing compact mattresses, good ventilation cannot be produced due to the multi-layered construction.
The present invention overcomes the practical problems described above and offers new advantages as well. It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a mattress core adapted to facilitate ventilation and/or moisture removal. This and other objects of the invention are accomplished by the provision of hollow spaces in a mattress core, wherein coil springs are disposed in the hollow spaces. Preferably, the coil springs comprise a fibrous material.
By the relatively rigid design and suitable arrangement of the coil spring according to the invention, a continuous flexible reinforcement of a mattress core hollow space is created. Preferably, the hollow spaces are configured to be large enough to house a sufficient volume of air for effective ventilation. Furthermore, the coil spring according to the invention preferably prevents a collapsing of the hollow spaces under the pressure of a user, thereby ensuring lateral ventilation during use. Accordingly, another advantage of the present invention is the possible omission of expensive lath grids.
Construction and sizing of the coil spring according to the invention are preferably such that the spring force of the coil spring (stressed in a lying position) is equivalent to the opposite pressure force caused by the mattress core material, removed by the hollow space, to ensure an optimum reclining comfort without sinking in the region of the hollow space. The coil spring preferably operates as a stent, or reinforcement, to allow a hollow space to resist collapsing under the weight of a user, without sacrificing comfort.
A particularly advantageous embodiment is provided when at the ends of consecutive hollow spaces, alternating recesses are configured to create a continuous hollow space that can be ventilated from the outside (inwardly and/or outwardly). Accordingly, this results in another advantage; in winter the mattress core can be heated via warm air and in summer it can be cooled via cold air.
Another advantageous embodiment according to the invention is provided when the mattress core is configured as a compact mattress and the cover material is connected to the mattress core material via needle bonding, thus creating a high quality mattress without glue.
The invention as described and claimed herein should become evident to a person of ordinary skill in the art given the following enabling description and drawings. The following enabling disclosure is directed to one of ordinary skill in the art and presupposes that those aspects of the invention within the ability of the ordinarily skilled artisan are understood and appreciated.